


the waking

by The_IPRE



Category: King Falls AM (Podcast)
Genre: Comfort, Jack Is Back And Everything Is Fine, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-17 23:03:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21801151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_IPRE/pseuds/The_IPRE
Summary: Jack wakes up in a hospital, and things are okay
Relationships: Sammy Stevens/Jack Wright
Comments: 2
Kudos: 83





	the waking

**Author's Note:**

> I churned this out and am posting it like 3 hours before the episode comes out, so fingers crossed that everyone's favorite rugby player is brought back

The first thing that Jack was aware of when he came back to himself was pain. Nothing sharp, but the dull ache permeating his muscles like he had been moving for years without any rest, and now his body was taking its revenge. 

He blinked his eyes open, squinting at the bright light that cut through the darkness that he had been surrounded by for who knew how long, and he couldn’t help the grimace that crossed his face as he shifted in the hospital bed he found himself in. Years of rugby and you would have thought that he could know how to take a hit, but then a few more years in…

Jack didn’t follow that though where it tried to drag him along to. He could breathe, the constant suffocating pressure of that too-dark-too-bright-too-much place was gone, and he could just _breathe_ , and this was going to be fine, because as his vision focused, he saw Sammy sitting on a chair next to the bed.

Sammy’s neck was bent at what had to be an uncomfortable angle, and even though his eyes were closed the bags under them were darker than Jack had ever seen them. His hair had grown out and looked like it hadn’t been washed in about a month, and there was no way that his legs were comfortable, cramped in that chair, and even as he was coming out of sleep there were already worry lines creasing the space between his eyebrows. 

Fuck, Jack had missed him so much. 

“Hey, Sammy,” Jack said, voice raspy around the words, and he couldn’t stop his growing smile as Sammy’s eyes fluttered open and focused on him. He wouldn’t want to, either, not with how Sammy was looking at him. “You look terrible.”

“Jack-“ And that was all the warning he got before Sammy threw himself across the few feet between them, arms wrapping around Jack tight enough that he was able to believe that whatever claim that void may have had on him, there was no way that it could break through the hug. “I can’t believe-“ Sammy’s grip tightened, and be pressed his forehead into the curve of Jack’s neck. “You’re really here.”

Jack put his hand against Sammy’s cheek, raised his face to look into his eyes. “I’m here. Not gonna disappear if you let go, either.” 

Sammy laughed, but his hold on Jack’s shoulders didn’t lessen. He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it into a smile that almost broke Jack’s heart. Sammy, with all his quips and comments and heartfelt promises pressed quietly and secretly, didn’t know what to say next. 

“You’re-“ Sammy breathed out what was probably meant to be a laugh, and Jack wouldn’t call him on how close it came to a sob. He dropped his head, letting their foreheads rest against each other. “I missed you.”

Jack laughed, ran his thumb along Sammy’s cheekbone. “Right back at you.” Sammy breathes out, and there's a shake to where his hand relaxed to rest on Jack's shoulder that feels like he’s just waiting for Jack to disappear all over again. Jack let himself smile, feeling where his forehead pressed to Sammy’s and all the places they touched. “I know I was gone for a while there, but, I've got to ask- what happened to your hair?”

“Hey, man buns are in again!” Sammy pulled back, offended grin in place, and things felt like they hadn’t changed at all. 

“Man buns have never been in,” Jack said. “Not that you don’t wear ‘haven’t showered in a week’ well, but, face the facts-”

Sammy surged forward to kiss him, and Jack could feel his smile against his lips, and he knew that he was grinning too. Maybe it wasn’t the most beautiful reunion kiss that had ever existed, but there was a bubbly euphoria in his chest that he felt reflected in Sammy’s movements. “You can’t win every argument with kissing, but you are very welcome to try,” Jack murmured when Sammy pulled away for a moment. 

“I’ll take you up on that.” Before Sammy could press back in, hand gentle on the side of Jack’s neck, there was a knock on the door frame.

Jack could practically hear the shit eating grin in his sister’s voice. “Can Lily come in?”

Sammy turned to make eye contact with her when he flipped her off, and Jack did his best not to wince at the knee that got dug into his sore thigh. He looked at the expressions on their faces, Lily’s “Real mature” and Sammy’s “Expect nothing less,” and he couldn't help but feel like he had missed something in however long he had been gone.

Of course he was going to have missed things, he was gone and it was ridiculous to expect people not to grow and change, but. Lily and Sammy were always sharp to throw their words back and forth, but now they didn't seem like they were aiming to kill, or even really hurt.

That was a development that he hadn’t seen coming, and as Lily and Sammy passed softened barbs back and forth he felt out of place, lost even with Sammy’s weight pressing against him. 

He could practically feel Lily’s attention when it shifted to him, though, and he offered her a smile, doing his best to hold onto that bubbly feeling in his chest from before. He was breathing, and the air may have tasted like antiseptic but at least it didn’t feel like a wet washcloth plastered to his mouth. 

Lily drew herself up taller, and for a horrible moment Jack realized that she had grown more familiar with Sammy than her own brother. Her voice was her radio voice when she spoke, the one that said she was in control of the situation and where she stood in it, thank you very much. “Look who’s awake.” There was a tension in her, sharp enough that it could pass for cleverness if you didn’t know her.

Jack knew her. Even with his disappearance, he’d lived with her for over two decades, and it would be a miracle for him not to. Even as she stood there with her walls up, shitty hospital coffee held in one hand, he saw through her posturing. It didn't really seem like she knew where they stood either, with how he was…out of commission for a while there. Just thinking about how he had been stuck and suffocated and alone was enough to make his heart palpitate just to think about, so he didn’t think about it. He just held out an arm to his sister, because he had always been the better one at having visible emotions, and he grinned as she walked over fast enough that her aloof facade became even more transparent. 

“Out of the way, Stevens,” Lily said, barely waiting for Sammy to move off of Jack before she clambered onto the mattress as well. The small hospital bed definitely wasn’t made for three grown adults but they made it work, Lily jabbing Jack with her elbow as she tried to get comfortable on one side and Sammy throwing out a half-hearted insult as he nevertheless made room. 

Jack hardly registered the twinges of pain as his sore muscles were jostled. He was fine, and he wasn’t alone, and he had his two favorite people right on either side, and there would be so much shit to deal with later, but for the moment, he was okay.

_ Better than okay _ , he thought, feeling Sammy’s hand link with his, fingers twining together and holding so tightly that he couldn’t have gone anywhere, even if he had wanted to. 

“Don’t do that shit again,” Lily said, resting her head against Jack’s shoulder, a thousand words behind the sentence.  _ You were gone _ and  _ I missed you _ and  _ you’re really here, aren’t you? _

“Not planning on it.”  _ I’m here _ . Jack smiled, rested his cheek against the top of her head, squeezed Sammy’s hand tighter. There would be days and weeks and months ahead for dealing with all of the shit that he had been through, but for now, this was enough. Sammy’s thumb brushed against the back of his knuckles as Lily started up a stream of mindless catch up, names that he had heard in the dark chaos as he was being brought back, and there would be time for that. He couldn’t wait to meet this “Ben” that Sammy threw a few interjections in about, and he’d like to actually get to see King Falls, but for the moment, he let himself relax.

Jack Wright was back, and he wasn’t going anywhere.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave a comment or kudos, or come talk to me on tumblr at [the-ipre](https://the-ipre.tumblr.com)!


End file.
